Oregon glass sent to landfills, not recycled

Friday, November 29, 2013

Residents of Eugene and Springfield who sort their glass into curbside recycling bins now know it’s not being melted into new glass. It’s actually being crushed and spread at landfills. And it’s all legal under Oregon’s recycling rules, even if the practice runs contrary to consumers’ perceptions. Part of the problem is cost. Oregon residents mix all glass – regardless of color – into a single recycling bin. But for glass to be recast into new bottles and jars, it must be sorted by color, and sorting costs money. Curbside recycling collected 51,000 tons of glass bottles and jars throughout Oregon in 2010, with nearly half of that going to landfills. Read the Associated Press story that ran in the Salem Statesman Journal.